Callbox vs Fathom

Yes. Callbox records the call from your own Chrome tab, so no bot joins and nobody in the call sees an extra participant. It takes the tab audio and your microphone, in Google Meet, Zoom and Microsoft Teams in the browser or any other call in a tab. You start it with one click or Alt+Shift+R.

On Windows, and in Fathom's older experience, a bot records the call by default. It joins as a participant named "NAME's Fathom Notetaker". Fathom's help says "Attendees will see that there is a Fathom AI Notetaker on the call." If you connect your calendar, the bot joins your meetings on its own.^[1][14][15]

Fathom can also notify the other side for you, with a recording banner, consent emails before external meetings and a chat message from its newer app. Callbox sends nothing to the other participants, so telling people you record is up to you.^[7][14][2]

Only in a limited Microsoft Teams alpha on Windows, and not at all on Linux or a Chromebook. Fathom 3.0, its bot-free recorder, is rolling out in the Mac app on macOS 14.2 or later. Fathom's help says bot-free recording on Windows is "in a limited Microsoft Teams alpha".^[2]

Fathom's help lists Chromebooks and Linux as unsupported. Callbox's extension runs in desktop Chrome on Windows, macOS, Linux and ChromeOS, with no bot on any of them.^[5]

The Mac app has limits of its own. It transcribes English and 19 other languages, and its bot-free video is in a limited beta. On Team plans, an admin can turn on "Block botless recording", and then every meeting uses the bot.^[2][4][16]

Not by itself. Fathom keeps recordings in its own cloud, with no limit on storage, and lists no native Google Drive integration. Its integrations include Zapier, Make and an API, so any copy to Drive is an automation you build yourself. Its help says "All Fathom data is stored in the United States" and that Fathom is HIPAA, SOC 2 Type II and GDPR compliant.^[7][10][9]

Callbox saves each recording to your own Google Drive as an audio file and a Google Doc transcript, in a folder per project. It can see only the files it creates there, and you open and share them in Drive like any other file.

Leaving Fathom means exporting first. You download each video as an MP4, since MP3 is still "available soon", and a transcript "can't be downloaded directly", only copied, unless you fetch it through the API. After you delete your account, Fathom's privacy policy says it makes "commercially reasonable efforts" to delete your recordings within 30 days. Cancelling or deleting a Callbox account removes nothing from your Drive.^{[8][19][20][21]}

Callbox records any call in a Chrome tab, and Fathom records four platforms. Those are Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams and Slack huddles, the huddles only in the Mac 3.0 app. Fathom does not record phone calls, webinars or breakout rooms, and it records Teams meetings only when they are scheduled on your calendar.^{[3][4][5][17]}

Fathom does record the Zoom and Teams desktop apps, which Callbox cannot. Its bot joins the meeting whatever app you use, and Fathom has desktop apps for Mac and Windows. With Callbox, you join Zoom and Teams in the browser to record them.^[6][2]

Fathom does not import files, and its help says "we do not support uploaded calls". Callbox imports audio and video, such as a phone call or a Zoom cloud recording, in mp4, mp3, m4a, wav, webm and other formats. Each file can be up to 500 MB and 6 hours long, on every plan.^[18]

For meetings in the room, Fathom has an iPhone app and no Android app. Callbox's Record page works in any modern browser, Android phones included, with nothing to install.^[3][5]

No. Fathom writes a summary of every call on every plan, and Callbox writes none itself. With Callbox, your own AI agent, such as Claude or ChatGPT, reads the transcript through Callbox's MCP server. It writes the summary with the model you choose and saves it as a note on the recording.^[7]

Fathom Free gives advanced summary templates for your first 5 calls a month, then a general one, and action items and follow-up emails need a paid plan. If you want notes waiting after each call with nothing to set up, pick Fathom.^[12][7]

Both have an MCP server on every plan, Free included, and Fathom also puts its public API and webhooks on Free. Fathom's API reference lists endpoints that read meetings, summaries and transcripts, and none that edit them. Callbox's MCP tools also move, rename and file calls into projects and save notes, so your agent can organize calls as well as read them.^[7][13][22]

Fathom transcribes 38 languages, Japanese, Korean and Hindi among them. Callbox's own engine covers 25 European languages, or 99 with your own speech-to-text key.^[11]

Fathom charges per user, while Callbox charges only the team's owner. Fathom Team costs $19 a user a month, or $15 billed yearly, with at least 2 users, and Free and Premium have no team features. On Callbox, the owner's Pro or Business plan covers any number of members, who pay nothing, and the team's recordings go to the owner's Drive.^[7]

Hours are the trade-off. Fathom publishes no transcription cap on any plan. A Callbox team shares the owner's monthly hours, 100 on Pro and 500 on Business, unless the owner connects a speech-to-text key, which removes the limit. A 45-minute call uses 0.75 hours.^[7]

For one person, Fathom costs less. Its Free plan transcribes without a cap, against 5 hours a month on Callbox Free, subject to availability, and Fathom Premium costs less than Callbox Pro.^[7]